Can I create a thing not known before
or is each color, shape, and sound, each word,
each insight ever sending up a roar
awaiting one whose senses are not blurred.

Can I with boldness seize unlikely goals
or is each possibility, each choice,
each passion always setting up controls
ensnaring one without commanding voice.

Can I with meekness tend the silent heart
or is each need too fragile for a touch,
each kindness not enough to kindle start
compelling one to seek the right how much.

I wonder if the greatest artists say,
I will not let the next one slip away.

- Robert Stone, 8 August 2010